ASTORIA – Repeated incidents of tires slashed on parked cars in the area of Astoria Park could be a pattern of vandalism, the Queens Post reported on February 3.

According to Country Wide Auto Coalition tow truck driver Eli Barreto, the incidents took place mainly by Astoria Boulevard South and Shore Boulevard, and he has been called in to tow vehicles with damaged tires over the past several months.

“I pick up cars there like every other week,” Barreto told the Post, noting that “vehicles often have multiple damaged tires.”

“One tire, you can put the spare on. Two tires you have to get towed,” he said, the Post reported.

Asked if the damage could have been caused by potholes or sharp objects on the road, Barreto told the Post, “no,” adding that “there’s always a hole on the side of the tire.”

“Only one of the two vehicle owners reported the incident to police at the 114th Precinct,” the Post reported.

“I woke up to go to work Thursday morning, and they were slashed,” Anthony Jewell told the Post, noting that he “had to call someone to pick him up and give him a ride to his job at LaGuardia Airport, and later paid $300 for two new tires.”

The second vehicle owner did not want to be identified, but told the Post that “she discovered her tires had been damaged Friday morning.”

“It’s just vandalism for vandalism’s sake,” she said, and suggested that “if cameras were installed in the area that might discourage or record the damage to property,” the Post reported.